Majlisan li Abi Bakr al-Anbari
- Author died
- 324 AH
- Editions
- مخطوط نُشر في برنامج جوامع الكلم المجاني التابع لموقع الشبكة الإسلامية
Majlisan li Abi Bakr al-Anbari (Two Sessions of Abu Bakr al-Anbari) is a short hadith compilation containing two dictation sessions transmitted by the hadith narrator Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Musa al-Anbari, also known as al-Malhami (d. 324 AH / 936 CE or 364 AH / 975 CE).
Author and Manuscript
The compiler's full lineage is given as Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Musa ibn Yahya ibn Khalid ibn Kathir ibn Ibrahim al-Ma'afiri al-Anbari al-Malhami. While some biographical indices record his year of death as 324 AH, Abu Nu'aym al-Isbahani recorded that he died in Jumada al-Akhirah 364 AH.
A manuscript copy of the work is preserved in al-Zahiriyya Library in Damascus as part of the al-Majami' al-'Umariyya collection (Majmu' 79, manuscript no. 12, folios 144–152).
Contents and Scope
The collection brings together prophetic hadiths and historical narrations narrated by al-Anbari with full chains of transmission (isnad). Among the prominent authorities from whom he transmits are Abu al-Qasim al-Baghawi, Abu Khalifah al-Jumahi, 'Abdan ibn Ahmad al-Jawaliqi, Zakariyya ibn Yahya al-Saji, Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Mandah, and Ahmad ibn al-Husayn ibn 'Abd al-Jabbar al-Sufi.
The text covers several core topics:
- Intoxicants and Prohibitions: Traditions forbidding wine and intoxicating beverages, including the report that كُلُّ شَرَابٍ أَسْكَرَ فَهُوَ حَرَامٌ ("Every drink that intoxicates is unlawful").
- Knowledge and Scholars: Narrations concerning the obligation of seeking religious knowledge, the transmission of forty hadiths, and the passing of knowledge through the death of scholars.
- Virtues of the Ahl al-Bayt: Reports highlighting the merits of Ali ibn Abi Talib—such as the Hadith of Manzila ( أَنْتَ مِنِّي بِمَنْزِلَةِ هَارُونَ مِنْ مُوسَى , "You are to me in the position that Aaron was to Moses") and the Ghadir Khumm declaration—as well as the Prophet ﷺ carrying al-Hasan on his shoulder.
- Adab, Ethics, and Historical Reports: Traditions regarding etiquette in greetings, Umar ibn al-Khattab's reflection and poetry at the Valley of Dajnan recalling his early hardships, and Ali Zayn al-Abidin's practice of distributing secret charity at night.
- Legal and Spiritual Exhortations: Traditions concerning the sighting of the moon for Ramadan, prohibitions against trade fraud (najash) and cheating, warnings against religious innovations, and the advice to Abdullah ibn Umar to live in the world as a stranger or a traveler.
Reception and Critical Assessment
Biographical authorities criticized the author's transmission. Abu Nu'aym al-Isbahani noted that al-Anbari heard extensively from 'Abdan, Abu Khalifah, and their contemporaries, but remarked that he corrupted his standing through greed and overeagerness. Ibn Mardawayh deemed him "extremely weak" (da'if jiddan) and "ruined in hadith" (zahib al-hadith), while al-Hasan ibn 'Ali al-Zuhri described him as unsatisfactory (laysa bi-al-mardi).
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